The early days of Saul
Bible Text: Acts 9:20-31 | Preacher: Andrew Love | Series: Acts | Introduction
Our passage refers to the early days of Saul
It is often said the early days of conversion really count
Explanation
God is gracious and able to give us new times when we can stand
Saul has been dramatically converted
9:2 – he had been by the synagogues in Syria and given letters of authority to stamp out the church there
But as he was getting near Damascus the Lord God intervened
For 3 days he didn’t eat or drink but sought the Lord
Ananais was sent to Saul
Saul was baptised
What would Saul do in these early days?
He continued to go to the synagogues that invited him to persecute the Christian church
He boldly preaches the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
He doesn’t give his testimony
He simply unfolds the pages of Scripture – proclaiming that Jesus is the Son of God
The Jews were absolutely dumbfounded
How do you explain this?
An absolute miracle had occurred
He had met the risen Christ
He was absolutely convinced that Jesus was the Son of God
A clear cut conversion
He was prepared to die for the truth – twice the people tried to kill him
How genuine is our faith?
We need a clear cut conversion
There needs to be clear evidence (though we aware new converts are spiritual babes)
A love for God’s word
Wanting to pray
Concerned for the gospel and the church
Zeal
We need to pray for this
Overview:
Boldness in Preaching
Remarkable Deliverance
Unexpected Hiccup and Finding a Friend
The Blessing of God comes on the churches
Boldness in Preaching
v20-21& v27 – bold preaching
A great step of faith in Saul
But was he trembling?
He knew fear and trembling – Corinthians
He preached the Son of God
His miracles, resurrection, full deity, cited Old Testament scriptures
He had not yet spent three years in the Arabian peninsula
It was a fearful thing to preach this
It was a point of controversy with the Jews
A controversial message – one that made the Jews want to kill him
He preached with conviction – he had met the risen Jesus Christ and knew the truth
No record of conversion
Saul was not to see any conversions early on
He was commissioned to preach to the gentiles (v15)
He went first to the Jew and then the gentile – he had a deep burden for his own people
Rom 9:1-3
Do we have a burden for our people?
Rom 10:1
Acts 17:1-2
Saul begins his ministry preaching to his own people
We should do the same – let us pray for a burden
v29 – he boldly disputed with the Hellenists
There are over 300 quotes in the Old Testament referring to the Messiah
He was given supernatural strength (v22)
In the midst of opposition he is giving increasing strength
cf with Stephen
He was filled with the Holy Spirit (v17)
Remarkable Deliverance
If a film was made about his early life – a lot would be made of this
A plot against Paul
The disciples lower him down via a basket
There were many remarkable deliverances
The 40 men who vowed not to eat anything until they had killed Saul (then Paul)
v24 – their plot became known to Saul
He must have given such praise to God for deliverance
How many days?
Gal 1:16-18
Spent 3 years in the Arabian peninsula before returning to Damascus
These things were not instantaneous but over a period time
2 Cor 1:8-11
Paul is confidence in deliverance – even in the darkest of circumstances
Paul knew that God was for him
2 Tim 4:17-18
Every confidence in God’s deliverance (even when people had deserted him)
Do we have this same certainty?
Unexpected Hiccup and the Finding of a Friend
v26 – News has not filtered through
Perhaps the time away [in Arabia] had put a question mark over him
All the people could remember was that he was the person who persecuted them
All that he had done had left a deep scar on the church
He was initially rebuffed by the church
Have we been rebuffed by members of the church?
At such times we need to know our standing is in Christ
At such times we need a friend
Barnabas gets involved
We have already heard about him – examples
He brings Saul to the apostles and they accept him
He becomes part of the church and moves freely
Application:
We need Barnabas’ today
Even if we remember our past, the Lord has forgiven us
The Blessing of God comes on the churches
Even in the time of persecution, the churches were greatly blessed – v31
The persecution was less know
Saul was now one of their number
The unified church was edified and at peace
Fear of the Lord vs Comfort of the Holy Spirit
Is this a contradiction?
The fear of the Lord:
Respect and awe
Living an obedient life
The comfort of the Holy Spirit:
In a place of safety, peace and blessing
Could this happen to the churches in Great Britain?
Yes
Let us pray for these things: boldness, confidence, unity
Let us pray for the preaching of Jesus Christ